When Dan Ensign took over as coach of the Whitehall-Yearling High School boys soccer program before this season, a primary objective was to improve the players' skills.

Ensign believes he worked toward that goal throughout the season as the Rams went 4-11-1 overall and 1-4-1 in the MSL-Ohio Division.

Whitehall lost to host Big Walnut 5-1 in the first round of the Division II district tournament Oct. 16.

"The boys needed a lot of work with general ball skills and first touch," Ensign said. "They also needed work with where to move and not to just simply look forward with our runs and balls played. Gradually the team started playing the way we wanted them to offensively.

"The ball movement and overall soccer IQ greatly increased by the end of the season. It showed that they truly were getting better because our schedule was very difficult near the end. I feel if I had more years to gradually develop their skills our record would have been totally different."

Senior Mohamed Toure was the team's leading scorer with eight goals and was honorable mention all-league.

"Toure was a great offensive threat," Ensign said. "Vargas was a key forward when he wasn't out with a knee injury. Edessa developed to become a quality target near the end of the season. Kiflu was great at controlling the pace of the game in the center midfield and increased the condition level of the team. Tejada was a solid defender in the back and was a motivational team leader and captain. Kidus ended up contributing more in the central midfield near the end of the season."

Sophomore John Lunsford emerged as the starting goalkeeper and improved throughout the season, according to Ensign. He made 27 saves in a 3-0 loss to Columbus Academy on Sept. 27.

"The team this year fought hard and never gave up," coach Danielle Smith said. "We were more competitive than teams were expecting because of our defense and being extremely scrappy. The girls got compliments after almost every game about their hustle and fight to not give up."